20. ICST Transactions on Systomics, Cybernetics and e-Culture
Editor in Chief:
Dr. John Boardman
Distinguished Service Professor
School of Systems and Enterprises
Stevens Institute of Technology
boardman@stevens.edu
Associate Editor:
Dr. Brian Sauser
Assistant Professor
Stevens Institute of Technology
School of Systems and Enterprises
bsauser@stevens.edu
Aim and scope:
Systomics is the foundational science of systems thinking. It asks and seeks to answer these two key questions: ‘What is a system (in the abstract)?’, and, ‘What is the meaning of this (particular) system?’ Systems thinking is itself an applied science asking ‘How can the notion of system be used to make sense of or to improve reality?’ Applied systems thinking benefits a wide range of domains and thereby provides testimony and future insights for systomics.
Cybernetics is the science of communications and automatic control systems in both machines and living things. Systomics and cybernetics together helps explain the structure, dynamics and emergent behavior of both designed and living systems.
e-Culture is the study of the worlds of purposeful human activity systems that are simultaneously empowered and constrained by digital technology. Its study includes but is not limited to: the role of software systems to enhance purposeful human activity, the impact on work culture of computer-based systems, the facilitation of collaboration and cooperation across diverse cultural backgrounds by means of digital technology, the influence of digital technology on art, including the infotainment industry e.g. broadcasting, publishing and movie making, and the subsequent shaping of digital technology as a consequence of changed lives in artistic, commercial and industrial endeavors.
By bringing together Systomics, Cybernetics and e-Culture we provide ourselves with the opportunity to better understand and shape our digital worlds of work and art by having simultaneous regard, through analysis, synthesis and inquiry, of systems, communication, control, cooperation, collaboration and computing. We are interested in publishing work of various kinds i.e. full papers, letters, surveys, and essays. We cover a spectrum of content ranging from capturing the essence of groundbreaking research, to accounts of applying conventional knowledge and skill to solving thorny problems in human endeavors encompassing automation, communications, entertainment, and global financial systems, through to vision casting of radical systems that fundamentally change the culture of human society.
EIC’s keywords:
Abstract systems, systems thinking, systems DNA, System of Systems (SoS), interoperability, system characteristics, applied systems thinking, system catastrophes, wicked problems, paradoxical systems, systems methodologies, system automation, system optimization, satisficing systems, systems of human endeavor e.g. global financial systems, global defense systems, the infotainment industry, and global manufacturing systems, interaction of culture and systems, both designed and natural.
Editor in Chief:
Dr. John Boardman
Distinguished Service Professor
School of Systems and Enterprises
Stevens Institute of Technology
boardman@stevens.edu
Associate Editor:
Dr. Brian Sauser
Assistant Professor
Stevens Institute of Technology
School of Systems and Enterprises
bsauser@stevens.edu
Dr. John BOARDMAN:
Dr. John Boardman graduated with 1st Class Honors in Electrical Engineering in 1967 from the University of Liverpool, from where he also obtained his PhD in 1970. His industrial experience has been gained primarily with GEC, having worked for them as an apprentice electrical engineer, then power plant designer, and finally in information processing, initially as a computer programmer and then as a systems analyst. He also worked for MANWEB, a UK regional electrical utility, on CAD systems for electricity distribution networks. He is currently engaged as Distinguished Service Professor in the School of Systems and Enterprises at Stevens Institute of Technology. He teaches graduate level courses in ‘Systems Thinking’ and ‘Architecting the Extended Enterprise’ and leads the School’s research program in Enterprise Architecting. Prior to this role he served as Professor of Systems Engineering at De Montfort University, Leicester where over a period of 7 years he gained external research funding, from industry and government in excess of $5 million.
Dr. Boardman’s previous academic appointments have taken him from the University of Liverpool, through Brighton Polytechnic and Georgia Institute of Technology to the University of Portsmouth, which he joined in 1990 as GEC Marconi Professor of Systems Engineering and founding Director of the School of Systems Engineering. In 1994 he became founding Dean of the College of Technology at the University of Portsmouth. He has over 60 refereed publications to his credit and a textbook published by Prentice Hall: ‘Introduction to Systems Engineering’. His seminal work on a soft systems methodology and, in particular, on systemigrams, a graphical notation for capturing strategic intent in extended enterprises, has been recognized internationally. He founded a thriving systems and management consultancy – John Boardman Associates Ltd. in the UK - through which he has consulted to Schlumberger, GEC Marconi, the Commission of European Communities, Rolls-Royce, and the BBC.
Dr. Boardman is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Electrical Engineers.
Dr. Brian SAUSER:
Dr. Brian Sauser holds a B.S. from Texas A&M University in Agricultural Development with an emphasis in Horticulture Technology, a M.S. from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in Bioresource Engineering, and a Ph.D. from Stevens Institute of Technology in Project Management. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the School of Systems and Enterprises at Stevens Institute of Technology. Before joining Stevens in 2005, he spent more than 12 years working in government, industry, and academia both as a researcher/engineer and director of programs. He has managed an applied research and development laboratory in life sciences and engineering at NASA Johnson Space Center; was Program Director of the New Jersey – NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training, where he managed a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary science and engineering research center working to generate new knowledge and technology for life support systems; and was a Project Specialist with ASRC Aerospace responsible for managing technology utilization and assessment, and commercial partnership development at NASA Kennedy Space Center.
His research interests are in the management of complex systems and defining a foundational science of systems thinking. This includes system and enterprise maturity assessment and the advancement of systems theory in the pursuit of a biology of systems. His work in systems theory with Dr. John Boardman has resulted in an insightful book, Systems Thinking: Coping with 21st Century Problems (see http://www.boardmansauser.com). His work on system maturity assessment has been nationally recognized and adopted as a decision support tool by organizations within NASA, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin. His work in System of Systems is nationally recognized and resulted in numerous referred publications and three book chapters. He is currently the Director of the Systomics Laboratory (http://www.SystomicsLab.com), which seeks to define a science of systems thinking, and the Systems Development and Maturity Laboratory (http://www.SystemReadinessLevel.com). He teaches courses in Project Management of Complex Systems, Designing and Managing the Development Enterprise, and Systems Thinking. In addition, he is a National Aeronautics and Space Administration Faculty Fellow, Editor-in-Chief of the Systems Research Forum, and Associate Editor of the IEEE Systems Journal.
Editorial Board:
Paul Layzell
Title: Professor of Software Engineering and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, University of Sussex, UK
Website: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/informatics/profile198096.html
Specialisms: Processes, management and support technologies for the development of software and software-related products; service-oriented software; rapid software evolution; collaborative software engineering; software management.
Email: P.J.Layzell@sussex.ac.uk
Pericles Loucopoulos
Title: Professor of Management, University of Loughborough, UK
Website: http://www-staff.lboro.ac.uk/~bspl/
Specialisms: Enterprise knowledge modeling; requirements elicitation and negotiation; requirements specification patterns; business rules modeling and tracing; agile business process architectures; organizational infrastructure systems.
Email: p.loucopoulos@lboro.ac.uk
Dinesh Verma
Title: Professor and Dean of the School of Systems & Enterprises, Stevens Institute of Technology
Website: http://www.stevens.edu/sse/community/faculty_profile.php?faculty_id=66
Specialisms: Systems Engineering; System Design and Operational Effectiveness; System Architecting; Architecture Frameworks; Enterprise Governance, Resilience and Agility.
Email: dinesh.verma@stevens.edu
Kevin Warwick
Title: Professor of Cybernetics, University of Reading, UK
Website: http://www.kevinwarwick.org/
Specialisms: Control theory; adaptive control systems; neural nets; robotics; cybernetics; cyborg experimentation.
Email: k.warwick@reading.ac.uk
Mike Henshaw
Title: Professor of Systems Engineering, Loughborough University, UK
Website: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/el/staff/henshaw.html
Specialisms: Integration of complex systems; System of systems engineering; Multi-disciplinary teams, projects, and experimentation; Engineering management; Autonomous systems; Engineering for enduring capability; Network Enabled Capability; Systems engineering for aerospace & defense
Email: M.J.d.Henshaw@lboro.ac.uk